THOUSANDS of brush strokes, hundreds of hours, 26 canvases and 2 return plane trips to Tasmania later and Ningi artist Aaron Butt had created one of his biggest projects yet.

The 24-year-old holds a Master of Fine Arts Research degree and has been painting and drawing since he was a child.

Now he prepares for one of his biggest body of works to go on display in a solo exhibition titled 'River Derwent (Facing MONA)'.

Aaron Butt said he was inspired by a trip to Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).

"I took some photographs on trip down there in June 2014 and around six months later I stumbled across one of the pictures and it just lent itself to a painting,” he said.

"I was really interested in the museum and the surrounding landscape.

"It's a strange place, it doesn't feel like you're in Australia and I guess I was kind of interested in that feeling of being in a new place and seeing this majestic, natural landscape and then this regressive strange museum.

"It was the polarity of the beautiful landscape and the really dark objects that I liked.”

Aaron was so interested in the scenery that he caught a flight back down to Tasmania in June 2016 for the sole purpose of capturing more images to convert into paintings.

"I always knew I was meant to make art and I was prepared to do anything and everything to keep that going,” Aaron said.

"I'm interested in that unexplainable emotive response from seeing something that resonates with you but you don't know why but you keep coming back.”

On top of his degree and lifetime of experience, Aaron also works casually at QUT Art Museum teaching workshops to school kids, sells paintings through galleries and takes on commission work and now he is beginning his own business in sign writing.